Fence-post



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. A. A. PARKER.

FENCE POST Patented Jan. 19, 1886.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. A. PARKER.

FENCE POST. I No. 334,719. Patented Jan. 19, 1886.

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ARTHUR A. PARKER, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

FENCE-POST.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 334,719, dated January 19, 1886.

Application filed July 3, 1884. Serial No. 136,679. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ARTHUR A. PARKER, a citizen of the United States, residing in J ersey City, county of Hudson, and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fence-Posts, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

This invention relates more particularly to posts and braces designed for use in forming a wire fence. In such fences, as is well known, the wire strung from post to post requires to be stretched under great tension, and hence draws upon the posts with such a force as to tend to overthrow, bend, or destroy them, especially the corner, end, and straining posts, which cornerposts require a stiffness and strength sufficient to Withstand the draft upon them in two directions laterally, and prevent them and the end posts from bending or breaking at the point on the posts where a brace connects to help sustain them, while the end and straining posts are subjected to great strain in one direction. Many constructions of posts have heretofore been proposed for use in fences of this character, but have been found practically inadequate for use as corner and end posts, and also defective as line-posts, especially when in constructing the fence the said line-posts are used as straining-posts with which to stretch the wires. Such posts re quire to be of cheap construction, and to possess great strength and considerable weight, and, in addition to these qualities, they should be solid and made of a material that will long resist the elements. Such line-posts,when inserted in wet or marshy ground, also require a means of inserting them into the ground to reduce the expense of constructing the fence, and also to aid in sustaining them upright when set.

My invention relates to an improvement in fence-posts in which a sheet-metal case is made use of, the same being tapering and largest at the bottom, and this is filled with cement, and there are wires passed through holes in the sheet metal, so that openings are formed through the cement by the withdrawal of the,

wires after the cement has partially hardened. The fastening devices for the wires are passed through these openings, and usually a hookended screw is employed, the hooked end passing into a hole in the sheet metal after the wire has been inserted behind the hook.

In the drawings illustrating a practical embodiment of these several improvements, Figure 1 represents an elevation of a fence provided with my improvement. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a fence-post having a pointed driving shoe attached thereto, and having that side exposed which shows the attached wires. Fig. 3 is avertical sectional elevation of Fig. 2, taken through the center of the post. Fig. i is an enlarged sectional elevation of a portion of the post, showing the attaching hooked bolt in elevation. Fig. 5 is a perspective View of the lower portion of a post provided with an anchor or extended foot. Fig. 6 is a top view of the brace provided with my improvement; and Fig. 7 is a cross-section of the same, taken on the line :20 :0.

It has heretofore been proposed to construct fence-posts for wire fences of metallic tubes; but these tubular posts have depended for their strength in their upper portion entirely upon the metal structure, while their lower portions in some instances have been loaded with broken stone, sand, or dirt, or have been provided at their bottom ends with a short block of wood or cement. Such structure, unless made of very heavy, and therefore expensive, metal plates or bodies, are incapable of sustaining the'strain to which they are subjected by the stretched wires which they carry, and their upper ends may be easily bent or doubled, thereby destroying the fence.

In order to obtain apost of suitable strength,

which envelops the artificial-stone post, and

in combination therewith forms a solid, strong, and practical structure. A tubular structure is first made out of such thin metal plate or plates and then fill'ed with the artificial stone, and this tubular covering, whether it is applied to the artificial-stone post in either man nor, may have a rectangular form, tapering from its base to its top, A good compound for forming the artificial-stone post is cement mixed with gravel, broken stone, glass, or shells, and the like, which compound will, when it becomes set, practically form a solid post that will impart to the thin and otherwise comparatively weak metallic covering a proper degree of strength to enable the whole to resist any of the strains to which such posts may be subjected in sustaining a wire fence stretched under tension and attached to such posts. Such artificial-stone filling or core also imparts to the post the necessary weight to enable the same to rest firmly in its foundation and not be rendered liable to be overthrown by ordinary pressures.

A practical wire fence is shown in Fig. 1. Therein are illustrated an end post, A, and li neposts B O D E F. Of the latter B is a brace post, between which and the post A is fixed an angular brace, X, which, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, is composed of channel-iron, 3, filled with artificial stone to strengthen it, as in the case of the posts. The post A may also represent a corner-post, in which case the bracepost B and brace X will be repeated in a line running at an angle to the fence shown, and the wires will turn the post A. This corner or end post, A, as well as the posts 0 and E, which are placed between a high and low part of the fence, require not only great strength, stiffness, and solidity, but should be so firmly held or anchored in the ground as to resist any tendency to be lifted out, particularly in the case of the corner or end post, A, which should be so thoroughly anchored as to withstand the tendency of the brace, under the strain of the wires, to lift or pry said post out of the ground. This is accomplished by providing for them a more secure foundation than the mere area of a simple post like F will afford, and thisis formed by providing the post with a spreading foot or anchor, as shown in Fig. 5. This foot consists of right-angular projections 9 10, preferably made integral with the body of the post. Such a spreading foot, as it extends laterally from the sides of the post, will securely hold or anchor it in the ground and form an extended foundation or rest to sustain said post upright.

To enable such posts to be inserted and securely held in marshy ground, I provide them with a pointed driving-shoe, S, as best seen in Fig. 2, which may be made integral with the post or made of sheet metal and filled with artificial stone, and affixed to the bottom end of the post in any manner. In the latter case it is preferable to insert the foot of the post into its open end and secure the two together by a bolt, as shown in Fig. 3, and the foot, with projections 9 10, might be attached in alike manner. Such a post may be readily driven into the soft swampy ground and be securely maintained there.

Heretofore a common fault in the means for fastening the wires composing the fence to their supporting-posts has been that said wires along the line have not been drawn snugly against the faces of the post on that side upon which they rest, and therefore not securely held. To provide a fastening overcoming this evil, or one that will draw such wires snugly against the face of the post against which they pass, and thus give it an extended bearing as great as the post is wide, and one, used in connection with the posts herein described, that will serve as a stay or tie to hold the metallic casing of the post to the artificial stone interior, I construct a hooked bolt, 20, (see Fig. 4,) wh os e shank is long enough to reach through the post, and provide one face of the post with ,two holes, 21 22, (see Fig. 3,) through the metal covering 2, which holes are positioned to receive both the shank and the end of the hook of said bolt 20, and in the opposite face I provide the metal covering with a hole, 23, for said shank of the bolt, and before the artificial-stone core or filling of the post has hardened, or while it is green, I mold the holes for the said shank by placing rods through at the proper distances, and draw them when the artificial stone has begun to set or harden,thereby molding the holes or perforating said artificial-stone core or filling to receive the said shank, and I also in like manner form a hole extending to aproper extent inwardly for the hooked end of the bolt. After the posts are set and the wires have been stretched under the tension which they are to have, I secure them to the post by passing the shank of the hooked bolt through the p0st,so that its hooked end will embrace a wire, and then by means of the screw-nut on the end of the shank I draw the said bolt until its hooked end not only embraces the wire, but, passing into the hole 22, made for it in the post, clamps the said wire snugly against the face of the post, and also clamps the metallic casing to the artificial'stone core. In this manner the wires are well supported and the true alignment given to the fence.

I am aware that hollow posts, piles, and poles have been made of both cast iron and wrought-iron, and that they have been filled or partially filled. I therefore do not claim the same.

I claim as my invention-- 1. A sheet-iron post tapering from the base to the top, and filled the entire length with cement or concrete, and having transverse holes through the iron and through the concrete, substantially as set forth.

2. An improved brace for fence posts, the same consisting of channel-iron enveloping an artificialstone body, and having fasteningflanges projecting at each end, substantially as described.

3. A tapering rectangular hollow sheet-iron fence post entirely filled with concrete or cement, and having holes in the iron at the places where the fence wires are to be fast ened, and a base filled with cement, to be inserted into the ground, substantially as set forth.

4. A tapering rectangular hollow sheet-iron 6. A hollow sheet-iron fence-post entirely fence -post having holes through the iron and filled with cement, and having holes through through the cement, and a base with a prothe iron and through the cement for the fast- 15 jecting foot, the whole being entirely filled ening devices for the wires, substantially as 5 with cement, substantially as set forth. specified.

5. A hollow sheet-iron fence-post filled en- In testimony whereof I have hereunto set tirely with cement or concrete, and having my hand in the presence of two subscribing holes through the iron and through the cemwitnesses. ent, in combination with screw-bolts having ARTHUR A. PARKER.

10 hooked ends, each bolt passing through the I Vitnesses: post, and the hooked end being received into 1 T. H. PALMER, a hole in the iron, substantially as set forth. l GEO. H. GRAHAM. 

